Cameroon has a tradition that sounds almost unbelievable if you have never heard of it.
According to the tradition, when someone dies young before the time they were believed to have fulfilled their purpose in life the family may perform a ritual that allows the person’s spirit to “return” and continue working in another town.
And this is where it gets really fascinating.
The person is believed to leave the community, go to another town, and hustle just like a living person. They work, make money, and build up what they have.
Then comes a special day known as Ghost Day.
On that particular day, these people are believed to return home.
You could be walking down the road and see someone you know someone the entire community knows has already died. You see them clearly. They are walking around, working, carrying things and behaving as though everything is normal.
But nobody screams.
Nobody runs.
Nobody acts surprised.
Because the people understand what that particular day means.
The “ghosts” are believed to have returned from wherever they have been working to bring money to their families—especially their parents or whoever performed the ritual for them.
They come home, hand over the money they have made, and then they are given food.
And apparently, one of the traditional meals prepared for them is plantain with plenty of pepper.
They eat, leave, and return to wherever they are believed to be staying until the next Ghost Day.
So, on this one day, the town is said to come alive with people who are believed to have died walking among the living, bringing money home to their families, collecting food, and then disappearing again.
Imagine seeing someone you attended school with, someone you watched being buried years ago, walking past you on the street and everyone around you simply carries on because they understand the tradition.
Whether you believe it literally or see it as a deeply rooted cultural and spiritual tradition, the story is certainly one of the most fascinating traditions I have ever heard about.
Have you ever heard of this Cameroonian tradition? And what is it called in your community?
According to the tradition, when someone dies young before the time they were believed to have fulfilled their purpose in life the family may perform a ritual that allows the person’s spirit to “return” and continue working in another town.
And this is where it gets really fascinating.
The person is believed to leave the community, go to another town, and hustle just like a living person. They work, make money, and build up what they have.
Then comes a special day known as Ghost Day.
On that particular day, these people are believed to return home.
You could be walking down the road and see someone you know someone the entire community knows has already died. You see them clearly. They are walking around, working, carrying things and behaving as though everything is normal.
But nobody screams.
Nobody runs.
Nobody acts surprised.
Because the people understand what that particular day means.
The “ghosts” are believed to have returned from wherever they have been working to bring money to their families—especially their parents or whoever performed the ritual for them.
They come home, hand over the money they have made, and then they are given food.
And apparently, one of the traditional meals prepared for them is plantain with plenty of pepper.
They eat, leave, and return to wherever they are believed to be staying until the next Ghost Day.
So, on this one day, the town is said to come alive with people who are believed to have died walking among the living, bringing money home to their families, collecting food, and then disappearing again.
Imagine seeing someone you attended school with, someone you watched being buried years ago, walking past you on the street and everyone around you simply carries on because they understand the tradition.
Whether you believe it literally or see it as a deeply rooted cultural and spiritual tradition, the story is certainly one of the most fascinating traditions I have ever heard about.
Have you ever heard of this Cameroonian tradition? And what is it called in your community?
From facebook
I dont know about any in my community but this one up there is quite shocking.
This one is Akudaya with a twist na ๐
ReplyDeleteAkudaya wey dey hustle...lol ...so Dem still dey bill dead body join
ReplyDeleteLmao @ bill the dead .
DeleteHaaa, this is strange. Just like the movie "American horror stories" . I've only seen and hear such ghost days in movies
ReplyDeleteGhost day ๐ป they will be walking among the living, bringing money home to their families, collecting food, and then disappearing again.๐ฅน
ReplyDeleteGod abegoo
๐๐๐
Make una come gist us o
ReplyDeleteHave anyone heard about this mysterious house around Onikolobo, along Ojere Road, near MAPOLY, Abeokuta?
ReplyDeletePeople say that those who lived there heard a baby crying at night, and no one could stay in the house for up to 24 hours.
It was also rumoured that the house had been empty for over 20 years.
Someone said that from 2014 to 2019, whenever they passed the house in their shuttle, they would see people mumbling or speaking in tongues.
He said one day,he planned to go there with his friends and make an “oyinbo film” But his mum suddenly called him and warned him not to go there as she had seen her doing strange things.
So, he aborted the mission.
Till today, he still wonders if the story is just a myth or if the house is truly mysterious.
Those who live in Abeokuta probably know the building.
It would have been cool seeing one of those haunted places/paranormal investigation videos from Africa. That video would have really blown up on YouTube and they could have created an entire channel off of that. But mama knows best!
DeleteChelsea don dey do wonders o..
ReplyDeleteWow ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฒ. What did I just read? This is crazy ๐ง
ReplyDeleteThose ppl just looking for ways to work the dead and get free money. Imagine the dead can't even rest in peace, they still put them to work to earn for the living. Mtsssccchhhwww
ReplyDeleteZombies
ReplyDeleteIts practiced in Haiti as well
But they dont talk, eat nor sleep but work
As a a teenage Igbo girl, I went to the village to stay with my late elderly aunt who lost her husband then at the request of her late son who promised to pay me every month. I took the opportunity as I was awaiting Jamb and hadn’t got a lot going on.
ReplyDeleteWhile in the village, I usually cook at the back of the house with firewood as the kitchen was still under construction. so on that particular day, while I was cooking ora soup with stock fish, eju , goat meat and dry fish, a younger woman came visiting, she went straight to my pot and opened it and jokingly said that she could smell the food from afar.
I was furious and scolded her. I told her it was very uncultured and rude of her to open people’s food while is on fire cooking without invitation. She didn’t apologise but went straight to my aunt and complained about me.
My aunt called me and told me not to be angry that the woman is part of the family. She was a widow that had been sleeping with her husband when strength failed her and she couldn’t perform because of old age. That she was her husband’s concubine [iko diya]. I was shocked that a woman accepted that from her husband and this was in 1991.
Anyway, Eve of the day of my aunt husband’ burial, (please note that my aunt husband was an Eze in our community then) the umuada gathered and cut her hair , like scrapped it with razor blade like seeku isi agbo nja. As if that was not enough, in the middle of the night she went naked when everyone was sleeping to cook her husband’s favourite meal. She dished the food on a local clay village plate(Okwa) and took the food to the junction where her husband passed everyday when he was alive on his way to the farm.
She left the food there and hurried home naked. She quickly had a shower and that means everything that connected them as married couples had been broken by death. I said oh Chim omenana deyoo.
Anyway, I am happy to inform you guys that her husband did not eat that food and it was there in that junction when I go to the market or to the stream and it was there until I left the village.
On the day of funeral, the used 4 native fowl to hit on his grave after burial. This native fowl represented eke, orie, afor and nkwo the four market days in Igbo land. They said no body should eat the chicken. I said for where, I took the chicken clean it and used fire wood to grill them. Used then to cook soup and pounded yam and everyone was eating and linking their fingers ooo including the people that said no one should eat it. I also made sure I told them where the chicken came from because I don’t want anyone to blame me for their misfortune.
End of my story, thank you Stella.
This was very interesting to read. That naked part was scary. I love how you cooked and served the chickens Imagine wasting good food for ghost wey no get mouth๐
DeleteSo very unfair to the ghost, so they couldn't even rest in peace. We've heard of child labour, this one is ghost labour
ReplyDeleteYou see๐๐๐๐๐
DeleteHaaaa๐ฎ๐ฎ
ReplyDeleteAI is terrible . Use photoshop instead.
ReplyDelete